Atrophaneura aidoneus
| Lesser batwing | |
|---|---|
| |
| Male (above) and female | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Papilionidae |
| Genus: | Atrophaneura |
| Species: | A. aidoneus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Atrophaneura aidoneus Doubleday, 1845
| |
Atrophaneura aidoneus, the lesser batwing, is an Asian species of butterfly that belongs to the batwings group of Atrophaneura, comprising tailless black swallowtail butterflies.
Description
[edit]- Wingspan: 112–162 mm.
- Male: Tailless. Above, the butterfly is bluish black and unmarked. It has a white scent patch in a square dorsal fold, which is pink or red on its marginal edge. This white scent patch is smaller than that of the common windmill.
- Female: Tailless. Above, the butterfly is grey brown. It has dark stripes between the veins.
Resembles Atrophaneura varuna race astorion, but differs as follows: Cell of forewing proportionately not quite so long; abdominal fold to the hindwing in male not so broad, its lower margin not square, rounded; the specialized scales within the fold white, with an edging of pink. Female larger. Upperside: ground colour olivaceous brown, never black; abdomen with a broad white, not crimson, lateral stripe.[1]
Description in Seitz
[edit]Head red, the long hairs often almost all black;the sides of the breast and abdomen red, and the sides of the latter mostly white-red. Wings blue-black, in the female often brownish, the forewing lighter, with the usual black stripes at the veins and folds. Scent¬fold of the male as the preceding species [Atrophaneura hageni]with white area, posteriorly edged with pale salmon-colour. North-West India, Sikkim, Bhutan, Khassia Hills (very rare), Burma, Shan States, Tonkin and Hainan; in Sikkim not rare up to about 5000 ft. from April to November; according to Manders the butterfly flies by preference in the deep shadow of forest-trees which overhang rivers. Its flight is slow and graceful.Karl Jordan in Seitz (page 29)[2]
Range
[edit]Northern India, Bhutan, Burma, northern Vietnam, northern Laos, southern China (including Hainan (Guangdong province)).
In India, it is found in Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland.
Status
[edit]The butterfly is not common but not regarded as threatened.[3]
Taxonomy
[edit]No subspecies.
Habitat
[edit]The lesser batwing flies from April to November and frequents forests up to the altitude of 5,000 feet (1,500 m).
Habits
[edit]The lesser batwing is a shade-loving forest butterfly. It has a slow and graceful flight. Both sexes frequent flowers, often Lantana.
See also
[edit]Cited references
[edit]- ^ Bingham, C.T. (1907). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Vol. II (1st ed.). London: Taylor and Francis, Ltd.
- ^ Seitz , A. Band 9: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die indo-australischen Tagfalter, 1927, 1197 Seiten 177 Tafeln pdf
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Collins, N. Mark; Morris, Michael G. (1985). Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World: The IUCN Red Data Book. Gland & Cambridge: IUCN. ISBN 978-2-88032-603-6 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
References
[edit]- Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society.
- Haribal, Meena (1992). The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History. Gangtok, Sikkim, India: Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation.
- Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. ISBN 978-8170192329.
External links
[edit]
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